


What Are Best Friends/Co-Parents For?

by joyfulphoenix



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Castiel and Dean Winchester Being Idiots, Castiel and Dean Winchester Living Together as Parents, Castiel and Dean Winchester are Ben Braeden's Parents, Castiel and Dean Winchester are Claire Novak's Parents, Castiel and Dean Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Doctor Adam Milligan, Doctor Castiel (Supernatural), F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Co-Parents to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Midam will have a side love story bc I love them your honor, Protective Michael (Supernatural), There is Idiots in Love and Then There is Deancas, Will add more characters later - Freeform, and they were co-parents (ohmygawd they were co-parents)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:49:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28841907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyfulphoenix/pseuds/joyfulphoenix
Summary: Castiel Novak and Dean Winchester are best friends who also happen to be raising four kids together under the same roof. And no, they are not in fact in a relationship. But they are happy with that. They really are. Because raising their kids together is their number one priority and they wouldn't allow certain....feelings or anything else to jeopardize it.That is until one day when Cas' eldest brother, Michael, makes a surprise visit that in a moment of weakness makes Cas ask Dean for a certain little favor. A favor that could either jeopardize their happy situation or could just be a fun little anecdote that they would eventually laugh about. But it didn't have to be that big of a deal. It was just a favor from one friend to another. That was all.What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Ben Braeden & Castiel, Ben Braeden & Dean Winchester, Castiel & Claire Novak, Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel & Jack Kline, Castiel & Jack Kline & Claire Novak & Dean Winchester, Castiel & Michael (Supernatural), Castiel & Original Child Character, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Claire Novak & Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Original Child Character(s), Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Jack Kline & Dean Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak, Michael/Adam Milligan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	What Are Best Friends/Co-Parents For?

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, me posting two fics just within a few days? Who am I? 
> 
> I never would've thought that after all of these years I would finally post a destiel fic in 2021. But here I am. Ever since 15x18 I've been back on my deancas bs and even wrote two other fics before this one (one is a 15x19 Fix-It and the other another AU). I actually even just came up with this idea and wrote the entire first chapter in one day. Go figure. I might post those others at some point as well. We shall see.
> 
> But on to this one, I'm kinda mixing a lot of my fave deancas au tropes and doing this purely out of self-indulgence. Anyways, hope you enjoy :)

“Dad, when did you and Papa Dean get together?”

Cas choked on the tea that he was drinking, trying not to spit it out. He forced the liquid down in one harsh gulp before clearing his airways. Heartbeat suddenly racing, from either choking or the question, he wasn’t quite sure. He gave his son a perplexed look. 

“What-what do you mean?” 

Jack, who was currently sitting at Cas’ private practice’s break room, mirrored his dad’s facial expression. “ _When did you and Papa Dean get together?_ ” He asked slowly, using each word as emphasis. 

Cas’ heartbeat quicked even more, and this time he couldn’t use the tea as an option for an excuse. 

“Uh…” He oh so eloquently started to say but closed his mouth, not exactly sure _what_ to say. How does one tell their son that his dads, who have been raising him together since he could walk, weren’t actually _together,_ together? 

Of course the thought had occurred to him before that this could easily possibly happen, with one of their kids understandably getting the situation confused. Plenty of people had asked them about it as well, wondering what they would do when that inevitable topic came from one or more of their children. Dean would get uncomfortable like he always did whenever someone would even hint at a romantic inclination between him and Cas and just huff out a “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it”. Castiel, on the other hand, always liked to be prepared. And so, whenever they first started raising their kids together and that question was first brought up, he had an entire speech prepared. 

He first would talk about how families didn’t necessarily have to be the societal norm of a mom and dad and their kids to be a family. That they all come in different shapes and sizes and sometimes in different ways that didn’t necessarily mean that the parents were in love. _Well,_ at least in this case, _one_ parent wasn’t in love while the other one had to keep his feelings that he had for his best friend to himself so that they wouldn’t not only ruin their friendship but their family that they had eventually created together. 

_But he was getting off track._

Of course Castiel wouldn’t bring _that_ up. However, the sentiment still remained. He would explain that even though it might be hard to see other families be similar to each other, that they had what truly made a family: love. Their kids had two dads who loved them and would do literally anything for them. 

That part of the explanation had actually been used quite a bit whenever one of their children would bring up their two dads or their family situation in school and a classmate or more would make fun of them or call them ‘weird’ for it. Both Claire and Ben had gotten in fights over it, which led into heated Teacher’s Conferences where Dean -and admittedly even Cas once or twice- almost had gotten into fights with the parents as well. 

So, one would say that Cas was “a pro” on that part of the speech. 

Fortunately, Castiel had never had to reach the... _awkward_ part of the speech. Although, he supposed “unfortunately” was the more appropriate word given that his luck had finally run out. It was okay though. This conversation was inevitable. He was actually even impressed that it had taken all of these years for it to be brought up by one of their kids. And in all honesty, it made sense that it would be Jack first since he was the most curious and always asked questions that kept everyone else on their toes.

Cas was ready for this. He had _years_ to prepare for this. He could do this. 

All he had to do was start with the shortened version of the first part of the speech that Jack had already heard before. And then that would lead into Castiel explaining that even though he and Dean were best friends and loved each other, they weren’t _in love_ with each other. He’d then push down the inevitable lump in his throat and ache in his chest at those words and continue on with the explanation like he wasn’t affected at all. 

That was another thing Cas was vastly a “pro” out, acting like it didn’t gnaw at his very core every time he had to pretend that he wasn’t in love with Dean Winchester. However, if it meant keeping their co-parenting and family intact, then Castiel would continue to do so until those feelings would hopefully finally go away. Although, it had been nearing thirteen years and there were still no signs of them fading. Not that Cas _really_ thought that he could get over Dean or even wanted to. 

No, being in love with Dean Winchester was like breathing. Effortless and constant. 

Even though it had been slowly tearing at his insides, bits by bits. Metaphorically speaking of course. Although, the constant pain he would feel either deep in his chest or the core of his abdomen was very real. A phantom pain of when what he couldn’t have sometimes felt too much to bear.

However, the pain was worth it if it meant keeping his best friend at his side as they raised their children together. 

Which meant that Castiel would be the adult that he was and endure the emotional pain and uncomfortableness of having to explain his... _unconventional_ relationship with Jack’s other dad. 

Cas then walked over to the round wooden table and took the seat closest to his son before clearing his throat. “Jack…” 

The boy in question looked at him expectantly, patiently waiting for him to continue. 

“You know how we always say that family doesn’t always end in blood? That it is what you choose. No matter if it’s blood or not? And it doesn't matter what a society deems is a 'family'?” Castiel asked, using air quotations for the last word. He hoped that this was the right place to start at. 

From Jack’s quizzical look that seemed to translate to him not understanding how that had to do with his question, Cas was starting to doubt himself. 

“Yes…” His son hesitantly replied. His eyes then shifted in what seemed like realization. “Dad, if you’re going to do your speech about how all families are different... I understand. You don’t have to explain it to me.” 

If Claire or Ben had said those words, they’d definitely be laced with annoyance and sarcasm. However, not surprising in the slightest, Jack just said them matter-of-factly. 

Cas sighed. He was hoping he’d have even a slightest bit more time to stall, but he couldn’t blame his son for being so smart and understanding their loving, albeit unconventional, family. 

“Well…” He started to say again. “You’re dad’s and I relationship is kind of like that.”

Jack’s confused look just deepened. “What do you mean? Because you two are guys?”

Cas was glad that he wasn’t drinking his tea again. 

“Because Aunt Jody and Aunt Donna are happy together raising Alex, Kaia, and Patience and they’re two girls. Wait, is there a difference between two girls being in love and raising their kids together and two guys being in love and raising their kids together?”

Castiel shifted awkwardly in his seat. “No.” He firmly told his son. 

Jack nodded. “I didn’t think so. After all Krissy Chambers now has two dads too.”

“I know. We went to their wedding, remember?”

His son’s face brightened. “Yeah! The cake was the best! Did you and Papa Dean have cake like that at your wedding? Wait, did you guys even _have_ a wedding?”

Cas’ throat suddenly went very dry. “I...um….” 

This was the perfect opportunity for Castiel to explain to his questioning child that _no_ , he and Dean never had a wedding because they never were _together_. However, apparently the thought of him and Dean happily getting married, with all of their loved ones cheering happily around them as they stuffed their faces in wedding cake, was too much for him. He could feel the heat on his face as his pulse heightened exponentially. 

Jack gave him a concerned look. “Dad? Are you okay?”

Before he could respond, however, Cas was thankfully stopped by a knock at the opened door of the break room. He turned to see his colleague as well as Dean’s youngest brother, Adam, walk in with a slight dazed look in his eyes. In a move similar to his brother, he then quickly blinked it away.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt. Cas, there’s-” Adam started to say but then stopped, fully looking at the other man. “Cas, are you okay?”

“Dad’s acting weird just because I asked when he and Papa Dean got together. I need it for my family project I’m doing at school. I’m supposed to write an essay about my family and then either do a family tree or a timeline. I wanna do a timeline.” Jack said the last part with a happy smile. 

Cas could see the amused look on Jack’s uncle’s face as he bit his lip, trying not to laugh. Castiel gave him a warning look. Adam then swallowed his laughter. 

He then looked at his son. “Wait, that’s why you were asking me this? For your school project?” Jack nodded. “Is it required for you to put when your parents...um… “got together”?” He asked using quotation marks. 

A snort came from behind him but Cas chose to ignore Adam’s continued amusement. 

Jack shook his head. “No. But I wanted to add it there because the family’s timeline didn’t feel complete without it.”

Cas could feel his heart figuratively break at his son's words. Not only because he felt that his explanation was going to be even more difficult now, but because there was a part of him that felt…. Well, there was a part of him that felt the same. 

Of course he believed people could platonically co-parent, whatever the situation may be. Although, no matter how much he said that he was okay with it, deep down he wished that their situation was different. That he and Dean really were two men who were happily in love and raising their children together. 

However, Castiel was grateful for the family dynamic they already had. Maybe if he could explain how much he loved their family and then help Jack with the timeline that excluded... _that._ Maybe that could help Jack feel that.... _that_ wasn’t necessary in their family journey. Or at least be the first step in him processing the fact that his dads weren’t actually married or even together. After all, even though parts of it had started tragically, Cas liked to think that their family journey was a beautiful one and thought that it was a great idea to document it. Especially for Jack’s class to help some of his classmates, and parents, who had a hard time understanding his family situation. 

And with that plan in mind, Castiel was ready to explain it all to Jack. 

Or at least he _should’ve_ been. 

Only, there was still a part of him that was hesitant. One reason being that he wanted to find the perfect words to explain it to Jack so he wouldn’t mess it up. The other, more ridiculous reason, was that a deeper, fantastical part of himself senselessly wished that if he just explained his and Jack’s feelings on the matter to Dean that he would confess that he loved Cas too and also thought that they should be together. 

Alas, Castiel knew that wouldn’t happen. So, he just needed to bite the bullet -as Dean would say- and let Jack down easy. 

Before he could do so, however, Adam thankfully interrupted again. 

“Um, Cas, hey I almost forgot. There’s some hot guy at the front that’s looking for you. He says that he’s your brother.” 

The man in question swivelled his head toward him. “Adam, _please_ tell me that this is not your weird way of saying that you now think that Gabriel is hot.”

“What? No.” He wrinkled his nose before relaxing his facial muscles once more and pointing his thumb behind him. “Nah, I never seen this guy before. He says his name is Michael.”

Castiel froze in his seat. 

_Michael._

Michael was here? He was in Lawrence? He was in the waiting room of his doctor’s office?

“Uncle Mikey’s here?” Jack exclaimed in delight. 

He had only met his eldest uncle in person a few times and most of that was when he was a lot younger. But Michael still kept in touch every once and a while via phone calls and video-chats, but mostly through big birthday and Christmas gifts for the kids. He hadn’t visited since...well let’s just say a very long time. 

That wasn’t why Cas was completely nervous, though.

Michael took the role of being the eldest sibling _extremely_ seriously. Terrifyingly so. Although, he kind of had to be, given how their family was raised and what they had to deal with from their parents. And his overproteveness just grew after they lost...Cas’ heart clenched... _Jimmy_ and what happened with... _him_. It was also mostly focused now toward his nieces and nephews, especially Claire and Jack. Although Castiel couldn’t help but admit that he was surprised at how much Michael had easily accepted Ben and CJ, who were Dean’s biological kids, as part of his family as well. 

Which led to why Cas was so nervous. 

Michael wanted the best for his nieces and nephews. And there was a time before he knew about Ben and CJ that he wasn’t convinced that Castiel could provide “the best care” for Claire and Jack. After all, Michael and Castiel weren’t all that close at the time -still weren’t but it was _complicated_ \- and so all he knew were the slightly exaggerated stories about the hijinks of Cas and Dean being roommates that Gabriel would tell him. Although, it was important to note that most of those stories were before they had all the kids and had Dean as the main star. So, it was understandable why Michael was worried about his niece and nephew being taken care of by the star of those slightly exaggerated stories. 

But Cas knew that once Michael saw Dean in action, being a great dad, that he would at least be even just slightly at ease. And he ended up not only at ease with Claire and Jack being taken care of by Dean, but was impressed with the eldest Winchester as well. They didn’t get along per say, they weren’t friends or anything. But there was mutual respect between the two elder brothers. Which Cas had been pretty sure would happen.

What he didn’t see coming, however, was not only Michael's approval of Dean helping Cas take care of Claire and Jack, but apparently of Dean _dating_ Cas. 

Yes. Michael, like most people who didn’t know the situation, thought that they were together. Only, that time, in a moment of weakness, Cas didn’t deny it. Instead, he not only let his eldest brother believe that he and Dean were in love and raising kids together, but he continued to do so ever since. 

_That_ was why Castiel was nervous. Because he had _yet_ to come clean about that certain lie of omission. And now Michael was here in Lawrence, here in Cas’ waiting room, expecting to see a happy couple raising their four kids together. All the while Jack was sitting next to him, patiently waiting for him to explain that his two dads weren’t _actually_ together. 

In a way he supposed it could be like that one horrific saying, “Killing two birds with one stone.” He can explain it to both of them at the same time. That way he won’t have to go through toture twice and having Jack there could be Cas’ buffer for Michael’s inevitable anger of Castiel lying to him for all of these years. Cowardly, yes, but it was also very efficient. 

However, something in him just _couldn’t_ , for reasons he had rather not dissect at the moment. 

And so, in a moment of uncharacteristic spontaneity, Cas gave Adam a pleading look. “I need you to distract him for a few minutes more.”

Adam kept his face neutral except for one arched brow. “Why?”

Knowing that he didn’t have time to come up with a lie, he decided to go with the truth. “I need to text Dean real quick.” 

“Is this guy dangerous or something?”

“No, nothing like that.” He reassured him. Like his older brothers, Dean and Sam, Adam was just as fiercely protective when it came to his family. Especially his nieces and nephews. “I just wasn’t expecting his visit and I need to sort some things out real quick.”

That was apparently all the nurse needed to know before he nodded and turned to head back toward the hall. 

Cas then quickly looked at his son. “We’ll finish this conversation later, okay?”

Jack nodded, giving his dad a curious look. 

Cas then took out his phone and swiftly typed out a text to Dean, not even caring if there were any typos. Which definitely was also uncharastic of him but desperate times call for desperate measures. He barely looked at the finished text, not giving himself a moment to back out of the idea, before pressing send. 

Once it went through, he looked at his text, feeling like he had just sealed his fate. 

**_{To: Dean. 4:08 pm}:_ ** _Hey quick question. 👀 Can u pretend 2 b my boyfriend/fiance/husband/significant other? Idc what we label it. Michael just dropped by for a ✨surprise✨ visit and he might think that we’ve been dating this entire time. And by ‘might’ I mean that he absolutely does. 👉👈 So if u can play along with me that’d be really great.🙏 But if u can’t I fully understand.👍 Oh and remember it’s your turn to pick up CJ._

Cas and Dean usually texted around this time anyways since it was near the end of both of their shifts and they usually had at least one if not more of the kids with them after school or was on their way to pick them up. So he really shouldn’t have been surprised with how quickly he saw the little dots floating beneath the screen. But alas he was. What didn’t help was how the dots kept floating for a few seconds and then stopped for a few seconds more and then repeated the same process for what seemed like forever but was probably just a minute or so. 

“Dad?” Jack’s voice broke Cas away from staring at his screen like a madman, making him look up and tilt his head to meet his son's expectant gaze. 

“I’m done with the rest of my homework. Can we go see Uncle Mikey now?”

Cas took a quick glance down to his phone to see if there were any changes to his screen. Still the endless ever flowing dots of dread and doom. Okay, he was being excessively overdramatic at the moment, but his panic was taking over by the second. 

He looked back up to his son, “You go ahead. I have to wait to hear from your dad. Tell Uncle Michael that I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Jack squinted his eyes. “You said that a few minutes ago.” Those words weren’t accusatory or filled with annoyance. No they were just filled with Jack’s curiosity and confusion. 

Cas gave him his signature ‘parent’ look, silently telling him that the discussion was over. Both he and Dean had a certain one for each child since they had different degrees of how long it would take for them to listen to their parents. Their ‘parent looks’ for Jack and CJ were the softest. Ben and Claire were both teenagers so it made sense why they earned more stern and exasperated ones. 

“Go say hello to your uncle. I’ll be out there in a little bit.”

The young boy happily did as he was told and didn’t bother packing up his bag before sprinting out of the room. 

“No running!” Cas yelled after him, more out of instinct, as he went back to check on his phone. 

When he turned the screen back on, he couldn’t help the small gasp from escaping from seeing that he had four new text messages all from Dean. 

**_{From: Dean. 4:14}_ ** _ok 1st off I know u like to use emojis but i’ve never seen u use that many b4 AND ‘text language’ as you’d call it. It’s kinda freaking me out._

 **_{From Dean. 4:14}_ ** _but of course i’ll be ur fake {insert whatever label that we decide here}_

 **_{From Dean. 4:15}_ ** _also why is Big Mike here? he hasn’t visited in like forever. I was kinda hoping the streak would continue for a few more years._

 **_{From Dean. 4:15}_ ** _btw already picked up CJ so all three kids are with me now._

Cas let out the breath that he didn’t realize that he was holding as he felt himself instantly relax at Dean’s words. 

**_{From Cas. 4:18}_ ** _ur freaking out? I’M freaking out! I wasn’t expecting him to come AT ALL_. 😱😱😱

 **_{From Cas: 4:18_ ** _} are you sure about this? You seriously don’t have to. I can just man up and tell him the truth._

 **_{From Cas. 4:19}_ ** _I haven’t really talked to him yet so I have no clue why he decided to show up unannounced. 🤷♂️_

 **_{From Cas. 4:19}_ ** _Tell the kids I say hello and update me later?_

The replies were very quick. 

**_{From Dean. 4:20}_ **of course

 **_{From Dean. 4:20}_ ** _also what are good best friends/co-parents for if not to be fake whatever we decide 2 b?_

 **_{From Dean 4:20}_ ** _but how exactly do you know that Michael thought that we were together this entire time if you haven't talked 2 him yet?_

Cas bit his lip, trying to mentally prepare himself for the damage that his answer could cause since he never actually told Dean about it after all of this time. He looked at the time on his phone and sighed. He really should get out there and face the music -or however that saying went. 

**_{From Cas. 4:22}_ ** _ur the best co-parent/best friend that a guy could ever ask for. 😁 I’ll make it up to you by making you two pies this weekend. And I’ll explain everything tonight when we get home but rn we should probably decide on what we want to identify our fake relationship as._

 **_{From Cas. 4:22}_ ** _Or we don’t even have to give it a label._

 **_{From Dean. 4:23}_ ** _what if we just call ourselves boyfriends? Simple enough right?_

Cas couldn’t help but smile as he felt his chest tightening at those words. _Boyfriends._ He liked the sound of that. Even if it was just pretend. 

**_{From Cas. 4:23}_** _Boyfriends it is._

 **_{From Cas. 4:23_ ** _} Alright I have to go. I’ll keep you updated._

The replies were instantaneous. 

**_{From Dean. 4:23}_ ** _You better._

 **_{From Dean. 4:23}_ ** _Good luck._

And with that, Cas had now gained the courage to face his eldest brother and happily pretend to be in a happy and loving relationship with Dean. Deep down he knew that this was not going to go well, if any of the many ‘chick flicks’ that they had seen together were of any inclination. However, at that moment Cas wasn’t going to let that ruin his courage and pep-in-his-step that talking to Dean had given him. 

He could do this. _They_ could do this. It was all going to be fine. 

Right? 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Hope this made sense. Also, lot of questions about their family situation and how they came to be will be explain in the next chapter or so. Hope you're having a great day/night :)


End file.
